Supernatural Adoption
Romans 8:9-17
Bruce Miller
Supernatural Adoption
Last week we experienced a great moving of God’s Spirit in the services. Several have told me in tears how they felt set free in a supernatural way that they cannot explain. Many were baptized. Dads baptized sons in emotionally moving moments that brought us to tears. I’ll not forget Pastor Jaime Gonzalez, with his voice cracking, saying, “This is my son.” At least two people trusted in Christ for the first time last week; one was baptized that very day. Two people were watching on-line, drove to the church and were baptized. God is alive and working in supernatural ways.
We are in the second week of our new series: Supernatural, a study of Romans chapter eight. At Christ Fellowship, a series such as this involves more than services. We follow a simple discipleship pattern that grows us to be better followers of Jesus. In the last three weeks I’ve introduced you to the Big X, four simple practices of Christ followers that you can sketch on a napkin. This weekly discipleship rhythm will cause you to grow spiritually. Each week study the Word as you engage God on the biblical text we will teach that week; then come to worship gatherings where you hear the Word in a sermon; then connect in a group where you discuss that same biblical text; and finally go live the Word to impact others. It’s a very simple, powerful, weekly discipleship rhythm that will change your life: study the Word, hear the Word, discuss the Word and live the Word.
Open your Bible to Romans chapter eight. This is a simply stunning chapter in an amazing book. This is the inspirational highlight of Romans. In these next few weeks, I want you to know the big point of the chapter: You can live a supernatural life by the Spirit because of God’s amazing gifts in Christ. This series could be a pivotal moment in your life and in the life of our church. Let’s pause to pray for God’s Spirit to transform us by His powerful Word.
Today we are diving into verses nine to seventeen, a section in which we will discover huge themes: life, adoption, and inheritance – amazing realities. I ask you to stand for the reading of God’s Word. I am reading from the NIV (1020) translation:
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation — but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
In our first verse we again encounter the word “flesh” that we discussed last week. Consult your Study Guide for a good explanation of that word, which your translation may render “sinful nature.” Flesh is not our body or a part of who we are. Rather flesh describes humans in their sinful worldliness apart from Christ. A person is either in the realm of the flesh or in the realm of the Spirit. Every Christian is in the Spirit. No Christian is in the flesh, even though we can act in fleshly ways. This is wonderful truth that gives believers great assurance.
If you are in Christ, then the Spirit of life is in you
This is statement of fact. The “if” is not conditional and could be expressed in English with “since.” We use similar language when we say to our spouse, “If you went to the store, you should have picked up milk.” There is no doubt about whether you went to the store. So this “if” is not a condition, but a statement of fact. If you are in Christ, then you have the Spirit living in you. Conversely, if you do not have the Spirit, then you do not belong to Christ.
Possession of the Spirit goes hand-in-hand with being a Christian. The moment you trust in Christ, the Spirit comes into your life. You can grow in your relationship with Spirit. We can have fresh and invigorating experiences of God’s Spirit, but from moment of conversion the Spirit permanently comes to live in us. He is a permanent resident in every believer from moment of salvation. There is no second baptism after the moment of salvation. The coming of the Spirit is not a two-stage process.
Look more closely at the language in verses nine and ten. We are in the Spirit and Spirit lives in us. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. The Bible is using metaphoric language to express spiritual truths that escape our full comprehension. At salvation we are united to Christ and the Spirit in a real and amazing way that transcends understanding. So if asked, “Does Christ indwell us or does the Spirit indwell us?” the answer is both. Christ and the Spirit are not interchangeable, but closely related. This metaphoric language is both mysterious and real. “The indwelling Spirit and the indwelling Christ are distinguishable but inseparable”. (Moo, Douglas. The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids. William B. Eerdmans, 1996, (Pp 491)) Let me share two powerful things the Spirit does in verses ten and eleven, both related to life; life today and life in the future.
The Spirit gives you life because of righteousness
The Scripture says, But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. The Bible is always realistic. When you trust in Christ, great things happen to you, but your body is still dead. The penalty for sin all the way back to the Garden of Eden is death. On this earth Christians are still subject to decay, disease and death. There is healing today, but we all die.
And yet, even though our bodies are subject to death, the Spirit gives life today. In us is a new power, the power of new life by the Spirit. We have the Spirit who gives life in the sense of deliverance from condemnation, a connection with God, the life giver; and the assurance of resurrection life to come. Eternal life begins today. Eternal life is not just about duration, but a quality of life. Today by the Spirit we can begin to experience the full life that God intends for us. I’ve seen really mature believers in the last stages of a long life; their bodies are winding down, but their souls are gaining strength evident in the life that shines through them.
The basis for this life is astounding: “because of righteousness.” Whose righteousness? Certainly none of us is righteous. Paul is referring back to the amazing truths we uncovered last week. God sent his son Jesus to live a totally righteous life and then die on the cross on our behalf. Jesus’ righteousness is put to our account before God so that in Christ we have met all the righteous requirements of the law. This is the Gospel. We can experience life in the Spirit through trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
So the Spirit gives us life today even though our bodies are decaying. What is the second aspect of life that the Spirit gives us?
The Spirit will give life to your body as he raised Christ from the dead
The life-giving power of the Spirit is not restricted by the mortality of the body. One day the Spirit will transform that mortality into the immortality of eternal life in a resurrected body like Jesus’. Notice that verse ten is referring to life now and verse eleven looks to what the Spirit will do in the future. Here is the central Christian doctrine of resurrection. The Bible does not teach that we will be ghosts one day. We will not float around as disembodied spirits. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Resurrection means the transformation of our current bodies. Jesus’ resurrection is the model. One day God will raise our mortal bodies from the grave and change them into new glorious bodies, free from all effects of sin, free from all frailty, disease, pain, decay and death. The Spirit gives us that assurance as we struggle today with bodies that break down, especially as we age. We are confident because we know that resurrection is ahead. We will have new glorious bodies by the Spirit who will raise us as he did Christ. [Careful readers of the study guide will notice that this interpretation differs from the also valid view in the study guide. At Christ Fellowship, we give each other the freedom to differ in our interpretation of details. In your Life Groups, give each other the freedom to grow in your understanding of the Bible; give grace to see certain things differently.]
In verses twelve and thirteen, Paul draws a conclusion from the truth he has shared in the first eleven verses. Notice verse twelve starts with the connecting word “therefore.” From what truths is he drawing an implication? The truth that we are not condemned. The truth that we are free from sin and death. The truth that we have life in the Spirit. The truth that the Spirit and Christ are in us. The truth that we will be raised from the dead by the Spirit. In light of these amazing realities, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation.
Therefore you have an obligation
Obligation means debt. These amazing truths of what God has done for us carry an implication, an obligation. We have no obligation to the flesh, zero. We do not owe our flesh anything. Paul makes two complementary statements; one is what we do not do and the other is what we are to do.
Not to live according to the flesh, or you will die
Remember, flesh is not just our physical bodies, our appetites such as eating, drinking and sex, but all of us in our rebellion against God. While we are not “in the flesh,” we do live in this fallen world and are influenced by it. We carry a propensity to sin and have engrained sinful habits. We still live in a body of death. New Testament scholar Douglas Moo uses this illustration: “Like freed slaves who might, out of habit, obey their old masters even after being released – “legally” and “positionally” – from them, so we Christians can still listen to and heed the voice of that old master of ours, the flesh”. (Moo, Douglas. The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids. William B. Eerdmans, 1996, (Pp 494))We are free to please God, but are pulled back into our old ways of living.
What does Paul mean that we will die if we live according to the flesh? Admittedly, this is tough to understand. Your Study Guide gives one interpretation, which is the current majority view among scholars; that the death is eternal for those who appeared to be Christians but were not. Alternatively, I think Paul is saying that when we live according to the flesh, we taste some of the death from which we will one day be totally free. When we sin, we experience that horrible feeling of distance from the life-giver. When we resist or quash the Spirit, we move in the direction of death and away from God, relationally. You are still saved, but you experience deathness by living again according the flesh. An alcoholic knows this feeling of death in falling off the wagon. That’s what we are not to do, but look at what we can experience. We are under obligation not to live according to the flesh.
But to kill the misdeeds of the body, so you will live
Since we are bodily creatures, the body is the arena in which we carry out sinful acts and thoughts. What’s at stake is our ability to experience life today in the Spirit, which is contingent on putting to death the misdeeds of the body by the power of the Spirit. Notice that you will die and you will live are contrasted. As a brother or sister in Christ, you can experience more death or more life on this earth. Jesus said that he came so we might have life and life to the full. We can experience some of that life today. The more we put to death the misdeeds of the body, the more life we can know, more closeness to God, more peace. You can experience a rich, abundant, satisfying life with God if you will kill the misdeeds of the body. Ironically, it is killing that leads to life.
These misdeeds of the body are sins that we are to kill. Paul gives one list in Galatians chapter five:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Galatians 5:19-21.
What does it mean to put these deeds to death? Older Christian writers describe this as the mortification of the flesh from the King James Version that says we are to mortify the deeds of the body. Most of us take sin far too casually. We make superficial efforts to fight against it. This will not work. Jesus said something similar in the Sermon on the Mount when he said we are to cut off our hand and pluck out our eye if they sin. The point is that we must take drastic measures.
Killing sin is a deadly serious approach. Guys this is not a boxing match where we just want to get in more punches. This is not just a UFC fight where someone taps out. In our fight against sin, our aim is not to wound it, but to kill it. This sounds unpleasant, difficult, and painful. It is. Killing sin runs counter to the soft, lazy version of Christianity that dominates American churches. Killing the deeds of the body is not masochism, asceticism or repression. Rather mortification is the clear-sighted recognition of sin as a mortal enemy. Our radical repudiation of sin must be pictured as killing. The word translated as "putting to death" means to kill someone. This is a vivid word picture for what we must do. But the difficulty of mortification is well worth the prize of life that we get to experience as we put to death deeds of the body by the Spirit.
Notice we do not kill sins by ourselves. It is by the power of the Spirit that we slay sin. This is neither moralism (trying harder) nor passive (let go and let God do it) approach. Rather it is a continual saying yes to the Spirit. It’s so common for us to take a softer approach to sin. We deny that we’ve done wrong. We make excuses. We talk about what happened to us as a child or how badly others treated us today, as if any of that justifies our sinful actions. We minimize by comparison: At least I’m not as bad as she is. We try to balance the scales: At least I’m doing lots of good things. Instead, we need to grab the sword of the Spirit and ruthlessly kill sin.
The most insightful book I’ve ever read on the topic was written in the 1600s by John Owen, one of the greatest thinkers of his day. He was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. He wrote a book entitled: Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers. His insight into how temptation works and how to defeat is remarkable. Owen grasps the deadly and insidious threat of sin that haunts us our whole lives. But he equally understands the power of the Spirit to kill sin.
Owen says that we must destroy the power and vigor of sin. Mortification is not the removal of sin or its elimination; not pretending it is gone which only adds hypocrisy or lying. Mortification is the habitual weakening of sin. Owen says, “Now the primary task of mortification is to weaken this habit of sin so that its power to express itself – in violence, frequency, tumult. Provocation, and unrest – is quelled.” He argues that we must “Take sin seriously – most seriously indeed. When people view sin superficially, they have no sense of need or motivation to mortify sin.” “Mortification is a constant fight and contention against sin.” We know we have made progress he says, “When sin no longer hinders our duty, interrupts our peace of mind, the mortification has succeeded to some extent.”
This killing is an action to be done every day, putting to death desires that draw us away from God. Phillips translated this phrase, “Cut the nerve of your instinctive actions by obeying the Spirit” (NIV apply). Do not be gentle with sin. Shoot it. Slay the beast. Do not put up with it. Do not give it any room. Do not give it any quarter. It must not be allowed to keep breathing. Kill it.
The first half of our text today gives us the assurance that the Spirit of life is in us. Even though our bodies are dying, the Spirit gives us life today and will resurrect our bodies one day. Therefore, we are under obligation not to live according to the flesh, but to put to death the misdeeds of the body so we can experience more life in the Spirit. The second half of our passage starting in verse fourteen introduces another amazing gift from God in Christ.
If you have the Spirit, then you are a child of God
This is one of the most remarkable paragraphs in the New Testament and an assurance of what it means to be a Christian. We are adopted into God’s family. We are children of God himself.
Verse fourteen says those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God. “Led” does not refer to an ecstatic experience or to guidance in deciding what car to buy. Rather it refers to being governed by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. Rather than being guided by our reason, anger or desires, we are led by the Spirit because he lives in us. The Spirit assures us that are children of God and always will be. Once you are God’s child, he never throws you out of his family. By the Spirit, you are adopted.
You are adopted, able to call God, “abba, Father”
In adoption, previous relationships are severed. The new father exercises authority over the new son, and the new son enters into the privileges and responsibilities of the natural son. (Mounce. Robert H. The New American Commentary, volume 27: Romans.
Broadmand & Holman Publishers., 1995, (Pp 182)) As adopted children, we now have the rights and privileges of the natural Son, Jesus Christ. We have a status comparable to Christ’s. As Jesus called God, “abba, Father,” so now can we. Abba is an intimate term of endearment. God is our Poppa. We cry out with joy, “Abba, Father,” expressing that we are sons and daughters of God himself, the Creator of all that is.
Have you ever worried about whether or not you are a Christian? A Christian is anyone who belongs to Christ by faith and has the Spirit of God living in him or her. If you have sincerely trusted Christ for your salvation, then the Holy Spirit has come into your life, and you are a Christian. In a mysterious way, the Spirit assures us that we are God’s children against the doubts that the devil sends our way. The Spirit motivates us to love God and do what’s right. The Spirit convicts us when we do wrong. If you are worried whether or not you are a Christian, that’s a good sign that you are saved.
See your Study Guide, Day Four for a compelling part in the Further Study section on Roman adoption customs and a. testimony about adoption from a lady named Jan. She writes, "As an adopted child, I have great appreciation for the adoption into God’s family that is talked about in Romans 8:14–17. Knowing that God loves me as much as he loves his own Son, Jesus, and wants me to be a co-heir with Christ — well frankly that thought is just overwhelming and there are no words" . . . Jan. The rest of the story is gripping. I asked Jan to share her full story with you.
God wants you to embrace your adoption as his child. Do not listen to the doubts of the devil who wants to pull you into death. As much as you sin and doubt, you feel that pull back to God. That’s the Spirit. Feelings come and go, but the clear truth stands: you are a child of God. Amid all our failure, God claims us as his own in Christ by the Spirit. You are God’s child. He adopted you. Embrace your adoption and God’s undying love for you. And since you are his child, amazingly, you are also his heir.
You are an heir of God; a co-heir with Christ
Not only are we adopted with all that implies, but we also have a divine inheritance. We are children today, right now, in Christ; and in the future we will be given our inheritance. Throughout the Old Testament you can find the theme of inheritance, promises that will be inherited by God’s children. We share in that inheritance. We inherit the promises of God. And we inherit God himself, meaning to be in his unhindered presence. We are co-heirs with Christ. We are accepted into the family. We are heirs of God.
The passage ends in verse seventeen with one more amazing truth: we will share in Christ’s glory. We share in Christ’s suffering in that we too live in a sin-dominated world and we too are persecuted. The Bible pulls no punches: on earth this is a life of suffering, heartache, and physical decline. But there is glory to come. This is not pie in the sky. This is not a let’s all be happy message. The truth is that if you have trusted in Christ, then you have the Spirit. You body is still subject to death. But the Spirit gives you life today and will resurrect your body. You are a child of God. You are an heir of God. You will share Christ’s glory.
Shortly, we will celebrate communion. As we prepare, remind yourself of what God has done for you. Turn these awesome truths into "I statement" affirmations. This is how you can live a supernatural life by the Spirit because of God’s amazing gifts in Christ.
I have Christ in me
I have the Spirit in me
I will be resurrected
I am a child of God
I am adopted
I am an heir of God
I will share Christ’s glory
Let’s make this time of communion a celebration. We are united to Christ by the Spirit, so we eat the bread and drink the cup that symbolize his body and blood. As we eat and drink, we celebrate that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. If you are not a believer yet, I invite you to trust in Christ right now, and then take communion.
To view this sermon video, visit: http://www.christfellowshipeldorado.com/sermon/supernatural-adoption/
